Johannesburg - Fans of screen legend and heartthrob Denzel Washington will be thrilled to know their man is back in the action-packed Equalizer 3.
Since giving up his life as a government assassin, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) has struggled to reconcile the horrific things he’s done in the past and finds a strange solace in serving justice on behalf of the oppressed.
Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers that his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends’ protector by taking on the Mafia.
The 68-year-old Washington said the trouble for McCall is that he’s become a little too enamoured by the idea of justice, to his peril.
“He has gotten addicted to this so-called ‘justice’ and crossed the line into unnecessary violence. He pays a price. And he has to deal with himself, and rely on others and break out of his patterns, or he will die. Through that, hopefully, he finds peace.”
Director Antoine Fuqua said: “What I wanted to explore was a man on the verge. McCall is on the verge of a question. What else does he have to live for? His wife is gone; Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo) is gone. It seems like he does the right thing, but he's constantly punished. And so, I think he's on the verge, and he has to think about what he's going to do with his life.”
Washington is a native of Mt. Vernon, New York State and graduated from Fordham University, where he majored in drama. He spent a year at San Francisco’s prestigious American Conservatory Theatre before beginning his professional acting career. Since then, Washington’s unforgettable performances have garnered him two Academy Awards, three Golden Globes, and countless other awards.
He received his first Academy Award for the historical war drama Glory (1987) and his second for his portrayal of the corrupt cop in the crime thriller Training Day (2001).
Washington won a Tony Award for his performance in “Fences” during his return to Broadway in 2010. As Washington crossed over into the world of film, he garnered critical acclaim for his portrayal of real life figures.
He earned his first Oscar nomination for Cry Freedom (1987) as South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko. From there, he went on to portray Muslim minister and human rights activist Malcolm X in Malcolm X (1992), boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter in The Hurricane (1999), football coach Herman Boone in in Remember the Titans (2000), poet and educator Melvin B. Tolson in The Great Debaters (2007), and drug kingpin Frank Lucas in American Gangster (2007). A few of his other beloved credits include Much Ado About Nothing (1993), A Soldier’s Story (1984), Crimson Tide (1995), Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), and Inside Man (2006).
The Equalizer (2014) is an action thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua. He reprised his role in 2018 for The Equalizer 2, marking the first time Washington had ever done a sequel. Equalizer 3: The Final Chapter opens in all cinemas across the country on September 1.